


Every Bit of Nonsense

by cuddlesome



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Mild Language, Undercover Missions, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 17:45:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9000499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddlesome/pseuds/cuddlesome
Summary: Rey wouldn't go so far as to say Matt straight up sucked, but she definitely heard some weird things about him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Some reydar as per request from tumblr that I got totally carried away with. Also, it's Christmas. MERRY CHRISTMAS.
> 
> Title is based on this exchange from Patrick Rothfuss' "The Wise Man's Fear":  
> “I’d heard you were dead.”  
> "I heard you wear a red lace corset,” I said matter-of-factly. “But I don’t believe every bit of nonsense that gets rumored about.”

Rey, codename Aria, did not know what to make of the woefully inept radar technician and thoroughly awkward human being that she got assigned to be her understudy while she worked undercover on the _Finalizer_. Most of what she knew about him came from strange rumors.

 

“Matt? I saw him with Kylo Ren’s lightsaber once. He flung it clear across the room. Maybe the anger issues are contagiously transferred through that banged up laser sword or something.” 

 

“Scared? Of the dark lord’s number one fan? Psh, no. But, he’s… uh… well, the last colonel to hang around with him died in mysterious circumstances, so… I’ll keep my distance.”

 

“Isn’t that the guy who threw a stormtrooper into a soda machine after he insulted Kylo Ren? How many techs have the balls and muscles to do that?”

 

Little of the threatening whirlwind of violence, anger, and death described by the rumors were reflected in Rey’s partner, at least from what she could see. Put simply, Rey thought that Matt was just sort of a dork. A really, really tall dork, but a dork nonetheless. He had laughter that was about as cliché a snort as possible, hair so yellow she was half-convinced it was fake, and a habit of doing more damage than repairs during his technician work due to clumsiness. The most homicidal he got was when they had blueberry muffins in the cafeteria instead of chocolate chip. He was more odd than threatening as far as Rey was concerned.

 

On one of their earliest jobs together, he got designated to “just pass the tools and for the love of the Maker don’t touch anything important” duty after he almost blew up the base of a radar dish earlier that day due to letting it overheat. How he managed to not get fired or at least disciplined over the incident was beyond Rey.

 

Matt handed her a servodriver, looking a strange mixture of grumpy to be doing such a menial task and relieved that he did not have to do anything more complicated.

 

“Thanks,” Rey says in the fake Core accent she had adopted for her undercover work as she knelt on the floor in front of an access panel to set about loosening the bolts.

 

Stormtroopers had a nasty habit of kicking techies’ tools. Rey discovered that all too quickly on her solo jobs. Bullying the few people lower in the chain of command than them was probably one of few bright spots in their miserable lives. She was irritated but unsurprised that the moment she put the servodriver down to take out one of the loosened bolts a passing white boot shot out and kicked it a few feet away.

 

Now, the rational reaction was to maybe get a little mad, mutter about the bucketheads, crawl over to the servodriver, pick it up, and get back to work.

 

Matt, it seemed, did not have the capacity to be rational.

 

His face crumpled into a snarl as his hand shot out and he caught the servodriver. To Rey’s horror, he pulled his hand back as if to chuck it at the offending stormtrooper’s back. What felt like a wave of the dark side of the Force accompanied the action as if he was about to propel the projectile at top speed through the air.

 

“Hey!” Rey grabbed Matt’s arm before he could hurl the servodriver.

 

His… extremely toned arm. Rey blinked. Everyone swam in their gray jumpsuits, but Rey would have guessed that Matt’s hid lanky arms instead of the swollen mass of muscular bicep she found herself holding. It went to show even radar technicians could work out.

 

Matt, meanwhile, dropped the servodriver with a clang in favor of staring at the spot where she grabbed his arm with his mouth hanging partway open as if she’d just stabbed him. His eyes looked comically huge with added effect from his wide-rimmed glasses.

 

“Don’t attack people over little stuff like that. Just breathe.” It was advice Rey knew but seldom followed on Jakku since she attacked people at the drop of a hat. “Also, just generally don’t attack people with blasters when you’re unarmed. It’s a good way to get yourself shot.”

 

“I was doing it for you, Aria,” Matt muttered. “Those guys are jerkfaces.”

 

It was nice to know he cared, even if the aggressive way he showed it gave some truth to those rumors. She let go of his weirdly muscular arm and gave it a pat.

 

“No one’s ever, you know,” Matt said, rubbing the spot where she’d grabbed him, “stopped me from doing what I want when I get mad. That was weird.”

 

Rey scoffed as she picked back up the servodriver and slid on her back into the open access panel. “You are in no position to say anything about weirdness, Matt.”


End file.
